Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Given New $50.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $42.80 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $334.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 19.4% in the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 37.7% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.